52 and still crazy - what keeps you going after all these years?
I just keep trying to reinvent myself. 2016 was one of the best years of my career. First came the huge success with the Beach Culture World Tour Championship, then I was honoured as an ambassador for Barbados, then I received the Icon Award and finally the Golden Jubilee Award for Barbados' 50 years of independence. I then qualified for the PWA Aloha Classic in Maui, which was crazy. I love windsurfing and the surf style and the fact that I still earn enough money to feed my family is a huge motivation.
How did you get into windsurfing?
We did all kinds of sports back then, but mainly surfing, of course. Then this Austrian, Mickey Eskimo, burst into our world. He was romping around in the waves on his windsurf board, jumping high into the air and I thought to myself: Wow, that's ACTION! I wanted to try it straight away. We then learnt it from guests from Europe and I loved it more than surfing. Even today.
Why don't you tell us something about your childhood?
I grew up in South Point Barbados and our group of guys called ourselves the "South Point Rebels", a mixture of all skin colours and classes, united by surfing. We hung out, surfed, fished, partied and stuff. Pretty wild. Without TV or social media. My family was great and the perfect mix: my father was a dentist and came from a small fishing village in Barbados, my mother was an artist from the USA and her parents came from Jamaica and St Lucia. Barbados was my paradise and my parents gave me the perfect balance of freedom and education.
How did you become a professional windsurfer and who was your first sponsor?
My first international event was the 1985 Mistral World Championships in Gran Canaria with Team Barbados. We looked like a rock band. The first sponsor was G&S Boards, they gave me the boards after I won the Caribbean Airways Classic. Then I went to Hawaii to train. I worked at Naish Hawaii and maintained the beach for money. In 1988, a French photographer at Aruba Highwind asked me if I wanted to do mastmount shots - sure I did and I got five covers. The media everywhere liked my look...ACTION! In 1988, after finishing college in Florida, I came back to Barbados and opened my "deAction Windsurfing Centre". I won a regional event and got connected with the sponsor 'Irie Blue' who started a new clothing line. Perfect! I was asked to help with the design and generate as much media attention as possible for the brand. That's how it all started. The owner, Scott Gribble, gave me money and I was supposed to go out and have fun. Martin Lenny/Windsurfing Hawaii gave me the equipment and I travelled around the world. Irie Blue was the ideal Caribbean sponsor that embodied our culture with the Rasta colours of red, yellow and green. People loved that. My first real pro event was the OP Pro 1986 with boards from G&S, I got the slalom equipment from Carol Naish.
What was it like with your Olympic adventure?
A friend, Randle, backed out and I got the chance to go to Seoul for the 1988 Olympics. I was so happy. With the Lechner displacement board it was like surfing on a beer keg, very difficult. But the conditions with lots of wind and high swell suited me, it went surprisingly well and my ranking was ok. Everything was different at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. I was a PWA pro, 3rd in the Wave Grand Prix "Hawaiian Breakout" 1991 with the highest tour prize money and I was in the wave top ten. At the Olympics there was light wind and no fun. In the waves it was ACTION!!!
How did you become deAction Man?
In the 80s and 90s I was the 'Irie Man', but then I slowly became the 'deAction Man', because that is my real personality and shows who and how I am. daAction Man' reflects my home in Barbados and the energy that I exude.
Which windsurfers do you respect the most and who do you have the most fun with?
I love this question because it leads directly to the Beach Culture World Tour. I've never had any problems with other athletes, I've always respected them. I remember when freestyle came up I was at an event in Austria once and some of the top surfers were hitting on me a bit. But when it started, the event belonged to Josh Stone and me. We did our promotion, the fans went wild and nobody was interested in these top riders. I was unbeatable on land.
Who outside the windsurfing world do you admire?
My parents. They gave me everything I needed to live my dream: Freedom as a child, discipline and education and the creative courage to take risks in life.
What is behind the "Beach Culture World Tour"?
When I was badly injured in 1996, I started the BCWT. I started my 'Caribbean Journey' and visited a different island every year. In 2000, I started working with Josh Stone. He and his family are my best friends. We started the 'Island Boyz Adventure' where we competed against each other. When Josh left, I developed my one man show promoting windsurfing worldwide and called it 'The Beach Culture World Tour'. In 2014, I came up with the idea of putting together a group of former world champions, legends and new talent - like a band. That would create more action and attract more sponsors. Participants and the media would then vote for the winner. Whoever has the most fun will be the world champion. This year, the BCWT World Championship is being held in Barbados. Freestyle champion Gollito, young star Bernd Roediger and Kevin Pritchard are coming and Airton wants to defend his title from Los Roques.
You are also an artist and singer. Who influenced you, Mickey Eskimo?
The biggest artistic influence comes from my mum. As an artist, she taught me to explore my creativity. My art and my spoken word music define who I am and who BCWT is. I released my last song, 'The brain smile & life sings' in 2016. Next to my shop I have the museum with my paintings. It shows my career, art and culture. As a sportsman, I want to use it to develop the Silver Sands windsurfing area economically. I take this concept out into the world and it works. At the BCWT event in Los Roques with Diony, we were able to get the whole island going... ACTION!!!
You have four children, three girls and a son. What's it like for you two boys to live with so many girls?
I actually have five children: Sunshine is 14, Starlite 12, Lion Reef 9, Rainbow 7 and Ocean Blu is 6 years old. It's a real challenge. You have to take them to school, make sure they do their homework, then all their leisure activities... but it's worth it. I love my kids and Beach Culture takes care of them. Do you know how to live forever? Through REPRODUCTION. Procreation is immortality, it is life.
Do you have a message for young windsurfers?
First you have to discover your passion and then find a way to achieve your goal. And it's especially important to find a solid image that represents your personality. Be respectful of older athletes and don't interfere with other people's dreams, create your own.
What are your goals for the future?
With my Beach Culture World Tour, I want to continue to promote areas, athletes and culture on different continents with big events. One of the most important aspects of the Beach Culture lifestyle is to provide for my family. I also want to support my home community of Silver Sands to become the most thriving sports destination in Barbados. I want to spread this model to the whole island and the rest of the world. Yes, the brain smiles & life sings - and all this can be achieved without hard work, that's what I'm looking for and when I succeed, I feel good. I float & smile... without a challenge you will never get this feeling.
Action! Action! And More Action!!!
